EOC Activations

The state Emergency Operations Center activates to various levels depending on the nature of an incident. Our normal status is what we call Daily Operations. When necessary, we follow ascending levels of activation: Level 3 – Monitoring, Level 2 – Partial and Level 1 – Full. Those levels are reflected on the front page of the DEM website.

CURRENT STATUS: Daily Operations

Incidents in 2018 that required activation of the EOC include:

EOC Activation No. 3
Fire season (A number of wildfires have broken out this year. We’ve received the governor’s monthly wildfire declaration for June and stand ready to assist the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands if necessary.West Valley Fire (Washington County, 10 miles North of St. George) – The fire has burned approximately 2,500 acres and is 0% contained. The cause of the fire is unknown. Approximately 10 homes are threatened. )

Major fires:

The Dollar Ridge Fire in Duchesne County has burned more than 70,000 acres, destroying at least 70 homes and prompting evacuations from Duchesne and Wasatch County. About 20 people stayed in a Red Cross shelter the night of July 2. An independent evacuation center was opened at the LDS church in Fruitland.

The Pole Creek Fire and Bald Mountain Fire, both burning in Utah County burned more than 118,000 acres combined and nearly burned together. Though structures were threatened, no homes burned. Various communities in southern Utah County were in evacuation or pre-evacuation status.

EOC Activation No. 2 (Newest incident first)
Carbon County water line break (Carbon County is working with Price City and the Price River Water Improvement District to maintain water in their system after a water line break. The break affects unincorporated county residents and the City of Wellington. DEM received an emergency declaration from the county April 17, 2018.)

UPDATE, APRIL 18, 2018

New 2nd hydrant installed successfully and is being utilized as of 10pm last night.

This morning there are reports of water tanks slowly beginning to see rise at Wellington and 4 Mile

Crews have gotten the main break up and out of the ravine and new sterilized pipe is on it’s way to the site to replace old and broken pipe. Goal is to have this pipe installed by this afternoon and working by tomorrow morning. There will be procedures such as flushing and pressurizing of the pipes that will take time.

DWQ and Health is also on scene conducting sampling at varies sites including the hydrants where they are using fire trucks to transfer drinking water from one hydrant to the other

EOC actions The Division of Emergency Management hosted a conference call April 17 with state and local officials to learn more about the incident and to start state agency coordination. Regional liaison is staying in touch.

EOC status summary:

April 17, 2018 – April 21, 2018
Level 3 – Monitoring

EOC Activation No. 1
Sundance Film Festival

EOC status summary:

Jan. 1-Feb. 2, 2018
Level 3 – Monitoring

Feb. 2, 2018 – present
Daily Operations

Previous activations

Incidents in 2017 that required activation of the EOC include:

EMAC requests: Utah deployed various resources to states needing assistance this year. Two Utah National Guard helicopters deployed to Texas for Hurricane Harvey, three state employees went to Florida to assist with human and animal services missions following Hurricane Irma and close to 50 local firefighters went to California to assist with their devastating fire season.

Uintah Fire: Fire started in Uintah, Weber County, in the morning of Sept. 5, 2017, and eventually burned six structures. Various evacuations were in place, including South Weber Elementary, which was evacuated to Clearfield High School, and Uintah Elementary, which evacuated to the Dee Events Center.

Severe Storm: Salt Lake City received two inches of rain in less than an hour on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. The water overwhelmed city infrastructure and damaged three Salt Lake City School District Schools and various homes.

Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski declared a local state of emergency Friday, July 28, 2017, during a press conference at the City and County Building.

Wildfire Season: The National Weather Service has issued red flag warnings for much of Utah and fires have begun cropping up all over Utah. Brian Head Town was evacuated due to wildfire that has destroyed 13 dwellings damaged others.

Brian Head Fire is no longer the largest fire burning in the United States.Started: June 17, 2017Size: 71,673 acres (roughly the size of Salt Lake City)Contained: July 31, 2017Evacuations at peak: 1,500+Firefighting personnel at peak: 1,800Expected containment: July 30, 2017

Water Emergency: Wayne County and the town of Torrey declared a local state of emergency (PDF) due to a break in the water line that feeds the water system. Torrey is on a boil order and residents have been asked to reduce their use of water. DEM has secured potable water to be delivered to the town until the system can be repaired. The system has been repaired and filled and is functioning properly as of 6/26/17.
Flooding: The National Weather Service forecast included a potential for rain- or snowmelt-caused flooding, though much of it was expected to be nuisance flooding. Various local emergency declarations are in place and local entities have reported infrastructure damage. Red Cross at Level 3 Disaster Relief Operation. Governor Gary Herbert declared a state of emergency March 31, 2017. Utah received a major disaster declaration from the president on April 21, 2017. Utah DEM and FEMA continue working with local officials to write project worksheets to move disaster recovery forward.

Activities: EOC monitoring flood potential and receiving information from the National Weather Service and local emergency managers. DEM will repost NWS social media messages and alerts through division accounts. DEM regional liaisons and PIO to keep in touch with with stakeholders. DEM purchased 11,000 sand bags for Box Elder, helped arrange for National Guard deployment to Box Elder and ordered various pumps for the community. DEM planning for preliminary damage assessments with affected counties.

EOC Activation No. 1
Potential flooding (The National Weather Service forecast included a potential for rain- or snowmelt-caused flooding on Sunday and Monday, Jan. 8-9. Temperatures will reach 40 degrees. Areas of concern: Little Bear River, the confluence of the Bear River, Weber Valley rivers, and areas below 5500 feet in Weber, Cache and Box Elder counties. These areas will likely see 1 inch of rain in a 12-hour period.)
Jan. 5-13, 2017
Level 3 – Monitoring
Activities: EOC monitored flood potential and received information from the National Weather Service. We received a few reports of localized flooding, though damage to homes was sparse. Home flooding was contained to some basements. DEM resposted NWS social media messages and alerts through division accounts. DEM regional liaisons and PIO kept in touch with with stakeholders.

Incidents in 2016 that required activation of the EOC include:

EOC Activation No. 4Election Day
Nov. 8, 2016
Level 3 – Monitoring
Activities: EOC was available for media monitoring related to election news throughout the day until poll closing or election results are announced.

EOC Activation No. 3
Fire season (Various wildland fires, Utah Lake and Scofield Reservoir algae blooms, flooding in eastern Utah, tornadoes in Weber and Garfield counties)
June 2-Oct. 6, 2016
Level 3 – Monitoring
Activities: Throughout the season, Gov. Herbert issues a monthly executive order declaring that a state of emergency exists statewide to facilitate actions contained in the State Emergency Operations Plan. During the algae blooms, we held daily coordination calls as needed and worked with various members of the State Emergency Response Team. We coordinated with local responders and helped get sandbagging supplies to affected communities.

Gold King Mine spill (Around 3 million gallons of toxic mine waste spilled into the Animas River in Colorado, which eventually flows through New Mexico and into Utah, where it is called the San Juan River.)Aug. 9-Oct. 8, 2015
Level 3 – Monitoring
Activities: Multistate coordination calls, joint press releases from State agencies and emergency water quality monitoring. That has since transitioned to long-term monitoring by DEQ.)